Next Time
by uy
Summary: Ranma finally has a few minutes to himself. What does he do with them? Waking Akane up in the middle of the night isn't so much of an option.


NEXT TIME

The moon hung low in the sky. There were few stars visible, the city's lights dampening the beauty of their natural glow. It was nonetheless a beautiful night, with few people enjoying the lateness and the hazy sounds of engines and nocturnal animals barely making their way through the air.

Ranma was, uncharacteristically, unaware of his surroundings. More impossibly, it was because he was deep in thought. As of late, sitting on the roof had been, as he had always wanted, a personal experience without anyone bothering him.

He had finally found a way to achieve this peace only two weeks ago, when Akane had given him a particularly ugly bump on his forehead with that mallet of hers and earned him an unexpected afternoon nap. He woke up in the middle of the night in his room, with his father snoring steadily to his right. He didn't know how he got from the backyard, where he had landed and was knocked unconscious, and into his room but he figured one of the more caring ones, like Kasumi or Nodoka, had arranged for a more comfortable situation than waking up in the same spot he had lost consciousness. Making a mental note to thank either of them in the morning, Ranma turned onto his side and tried to get back to sleep. After half an hour of tossing and turning, he gave up and made his way onto the roof.

That was how he discovered that, at certain hours of the night, people who knew him actually slept. From then on, after coming home from school, training for a few minutes, and eating a hearty meal, he would sleep and wake up when the world was quiet enough. After spending a few minutes on the roof, pondering and whatnot, he went back down.

But he never really slept again until a few hours before sunrise, when he finally found himself contented enough to go back to his own room.

What he did after spending time on the roof was a secret that made him blush and gave him butterflies in the stomach when he thought about it, both from the danger of being found out and the exaltation at being able to do it without anyone knowing.

Tonight, he felt that feeling of trepidation and excitement that was becoming pleasantly familiar to his senses. Smiling stupidly to himself, he quietly got up, swung himself upside down on the edge of the roof and pushed the windows to Akane's room open. It was a technique he had mastered over the past year, getting into that room without making a sound. He would pull the top sill with one hand while pushing at the center with the other. This way, he was able to control the bang the windows might create. Thankfully, Akane never replaced the lock that broke after the first time Ranma had to use her window to escape or take cover. She figured it wouldn't be the last time.

Swinging himself into the room with a grace of a martial artist's honed skills, Ranma breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that his fiancée hadn't woken up. He turned to close the windows again and, looking back over his shoulder at Akane's face bathed in moonbeams, he changed his mind. He sat down beside her bed, half hidden in the shadows and watched Akane breathe.

People would laugh at him if they found out. Watching someone sleep wasn't exactly a Ranma thing to do. However, while he did it, night after night, he cared less and less about how cheesy it was.

Ranma found Akane to be the most fascinating sleeper. She didn't snore, drool, or grind her teeth, like most people he knew did. Her eyelashes fluttering against the lazy rosiness of her cheeks was something that Ranma fantasized about in the day. He wanted to feel those long eyelashes against his chest… or under his lips. Akane also didn't move around much, as he had expected, with her being so energetic all the time. She would usually stay in one position, curled up to her left near the edge of the bed and away from the wall. She always had half of the pillow underneath her cheek and the other half she hugged to her chest.

Akane was a peaceful sleeper. Even in the frenzy of nightmares, all she would do was suck in her bottom lip, mumble incomprehensibly, and furrow her eyebrows. And she did the most heart-breaking thing sometimes- she would whisper a name Ranma would barely catch and a tear would slide down from her left eyelid and into the pillow. Most of the time, the name was her mother's; other times, the name was Ranma's.

When he discovered that amongst the jumbles of her sleep-induced whispers his own name was often present, Ranma felt warmth spread through his chest. He and Akane had never really spoken of their relationship, so there was never really any certainty about emotional investments being mutual. Ranma was relieved and happy that she cared, but he still didn't find Akane's dreaming of him a reliable source of courage to tell her how he felt.

Tonight was the first time he left the window open. He was always afraid someone would be watching, just waiting for the right moment to yell or attack him and wake Akane up.

So tonight, in the risky but beautiful glow of sleep and moonlight, Akane looked exceptionally lovely.

Quiet moments were so difficult to find in Nerima and Ranma, having two weeks of them, was feeling a little bit more brazen. And he wanted to kiss her. And he knew that there was very little chance he'd be able to do it when the sun was up. And he knew he would find it extremely difficult to hold out until the next night. And just suddenly kissing Akane during the day was not an option. Sudden moves put things in Nerima in a state of chaos and panic.

So, mustering up all the courage he had, Ranma leaned forward, felt Akane's breath on his lips, and kissed her as softly as he could and as firmly as he dared. He lingered there, in her world of warmth and plumpness and moistness, for a few moments before finally pulling away. His eyes remained closed, the darkness they permitted letting him stay in the dream that was kissing Akane for just a bit longer.

Opening his eyes languidly, a smile on his half open lips, he did not expect to meet glistening, curious, and mildly expectant orbs of hazy brown.

Akane blinked. Ranma, still in a state of stupor and panic, realized that his face was still unusually close to hers and he moved away, sitting uncomfortably back in the blue-tinged shadows. He waited for her to say or do something, his eyes wide with trepidation and his cheeks glowing red with embarrassment.

Akane didn't break eye contact. Slowly, she sat up on one hand and held the edges of her blanket with the other. She cocked her head to one side and bit her bottom lip, tasting him there and finally grasping the realness of that kiss.

She would have yelled in anger, indignity, and shock at finding someone, most especially her pervert fiancé in her room, in the middle of the night, but she woke up with his lips on hers and her body swooning in the comfort that it was him that was there and not some REAL pervert trying to rape or kidnap her. Somehow, sleep had half of her still in its clutches and prevented her from acting and reacting violently.

And so the only emotion that was left was surprise, and the tingling of suppressed delight.

"Well?" she said, finally raising her eyebrows in impatience.

Ranma swallowed nervously. "A-Akane?" _Why am I still alive?_

"Duh. Who else would I be?" and she sat upright and crossed her arms under her breasts. "Unless you really were expecting someone else…" Anger spiked her eyes, grayed in the darkness.

"N-no! No!" Ranma waved his hands in front of him. "I… uh… I was just… I-I... I was… I was…"

"You were kissing me," Akane finished for him.

Ranma swallowed again. He said nothing, waiting for her to get a hold of her senses and finally hit him. When she didn't move, he raised his eyes and looked at her. "Are… are you mad?" he said sheepishly.

To his surprise, Akane blushed and smiled. "Well, no… I don't think so. Unless you give me a reason to get mad…"

"So you're not mad th-that… that I kissed you while you were sleeping?"

Akane shook her head.

Feeling confident now, Ranma sighed in relief (and excitement) and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Ranma stood to go. "Well, uh, good night 'kane."

Akane lay back down on her bed and pulled her blanket up. "Good night, Ranma."

He opened the door and looked back at his fiancée. Her eyes were closed again and she was smiling softly. He raised an eyebrow, amused and satisfied.

Before he stepped out into the hallway, he heard her call out to him, "You could just ask me next time. You almost scared me to death."

He shut the door and leaned against it, looking at the ceiling. _There's going to be a next time._

And, punching upwards, suppressing a very unmanly scream, he gave a little jump of triumph.

Owari

* * *

A/N: I entitled this story "Next Time" because it always seems to me that characters in the anime, especially Ranma and Akane, are always procrastinating and making excuses, and of course they rarely ever get the chance to continue whatever it is they're about to do. And that's why their lives are so messed up. So, yeah, that's it.

Thank you for reading my story! Reviews will be very much appreciated!


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